Cowboys eye extension for Romo

The Dallas Cowboys want to extend quarterback Tony Romo’s contract because he’s “one of the best in the business” and a key piece to their championship hopes, a high-ranking team executive said Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters in Dallas, Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones stressed that Romo’s deal will be examined closely this offseason as the Cowboys look to clear cap space.

“With a quarterback, when you have a good one…it is going to represent a big piece of your salary cap and how you manage that is important,” the Dallas Morning News quoted Jones as saying. “He understands that. We do, too.”

Romo will be in the last year of his contract in 2013 and is scheduled to earn a base salary of $11.5 million. His cap figure is a team-high $16.8 million, according to ESPNDallas.com.

Jones also said the club would like to keep outside linebacker Anthony Spencer, who had a career year in 2012.

“We’re always in the business of keeping great football players,” Jones said. “And he is one of those.”

In 2012, Spencer led the team in tackles and notched a career-best 11 sacks while playing under the $8.8 million franchise tag the club slapped on him in March. But Jones said it’s too early to tell if a deal will get done for the first-time Pro Bowler.

“Unfortunately, you’ve got to make difficult decisions,” Jones told the Dallas Morning News. “What that will entail we don’t know quite yet. We’ll be moving forward in a quick way. But obviously Anthony Spencer represents everything we want to be about. He plays hard. His leadership is tremendous. On top of that, he’s a great player.”